POLITICALLY DIRECT

In defense of Elizabeth Warren

Jane Chastain is a Southern California-based broadcaster, author and political commentator. Despite her present emphasis on politics, Jane always will be remembered as the nation's first female TV sportscaster, spending 17 years on the sports beat. Jane blogs at JaneChastain.com. She is a pilot who lives on a private runway.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: If I lost my mind and moved to Taxachusetts, I would not vote for Elizabeth Warren for the U.S. Senate. Truth is, Warren, who misrepresented herself as a minority to gain affirmative-action status and get a job at Harvard, would be unlikely to get my vote for dog catcher in “The Old Colony” or any other state.

The fact that Warren has Roseanne Barr campaigning for her is all you really need to know about her challenge to Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., for the seat once held by Teddy Kennedy. Warren is a left-wing opportunist who never sees a government program she doesn’t like and alternately beats the tom-toms of class warfare, angry feminism and gay activism in her bid to hitch a ride to Washington.

That said, the latest attack against her is over-the-top. Last weekend, the Boston Herald reported that this Cherokee wannabe, who has railed against predatory banks and heartless foreclosures, had, in the ’90s, turned a tidy profit by purchasing foreclosed homes and flipping them.

Furthermore, the article implies that “Princess Moneybags” took advantage of some family members by giving them personal, high-interest loans so that they, too, could profit from these homes.

While some are celebrating the fact that she has been “hoisted on her own petard,” I maintain this house-flipping to be a valid defense against the charge that she has nothing but bats flying around in that breezy little blond head of hers.

Much to the chagrin of the income-redistribution crowd that supports her, this proves that, deep-down, Ms. Warren is – horrors – a capitalist.

Why would her relatives agree to high-interest loans at 9.5 percent if they could get one at the going rate at a local bank? Obviously, her relatives were not the best credit risks. So, underneath that bleeding heart, “Pocahontas the 32nd” is – gasp – a shrewd businesswoman.

For the record, Ms. Warren did nothing wrong by buying foreclosed homes, fixing them up and reselling them at a profit. She did nothing wrong by making those high-interest loans to her relatives or employing an enterprising nephew to do the repairs and alterations.

Unfortunately for the Warren warrior, this is not the kind of thing that gets the average liberal Democrat a ticket to ride the political gravy train.

Relatives helping relatives instead of relying on the government – what a concept! What if this caught on? It could be the end of welfare as we know it. How would she profit from the votes of all those poverty pimps?

Liberals believe that the underclass cannot possibly achieve anything without a government program. Liberals also believe that profiting from real estate is verboten and should never be allowed.

In 2008, Rep. Rob Emanuel, who would become Obama’s chief of staff, railed against buying and flipping homes “as if they were pancakes.” Liberals blamed those who dared to commit such dastardly deeds for causing the financial crises along with the Bush administration.

Cursed are those who know that the real blame lies with liberals like Jimmy Carter who, in 1970, signed “The Community Reinvestment Act,” which required banks to make “investments” in low-quality assets.

Liberals then passed legislation requiring Fannie and Freddie, the government-sponsored enterprises that purchase and securitize mortgages, to devote a percentage of their lending to support “affordable housing,” the euphemism for giving loans to people who otherwise would not qualify. This created a boom in the housing market that simply could not be sustained and unfortunately caused many otherwise responsible people to buy houses they could barely afford during good times.

The “American Dream,” became the “American Right.” Damn the banks that made the loans for those homes and dared to foreclose when those loans went unpaid. Damn the landlords who provide comfortable, affordable housing for those who aren’t prepared for home ownership.

Yes, in liberal speak there are “good incomes” and “bad incomes.” Income from rent is considered bad income. That’s why Obama plans to tax it at a higher rate.

Income from dividends and stocks – the investments made by prudent citizens who want to finance their own retirement instead of living off the government – also is considered bad income. The Obama administration wants to tax these capital gains as ordinary income, which will dash the hopes and dreams of many seniors. How dare they reach their “golden years” independent of those with the political power to destroy them!

Yes, Elizabeth Warren is a sharp businesswoman. Unfortunately, like many other rich liberals, she also is a hypocrite.